President Donald Trump opened the door to an increase in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan on Monday night as part of a new strategy for the region, arguing against a hasty withdrawal from America’s longest military conflict.

Trump, in a prime-time televised address, said his new approach was aimed at preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for Islamist militants bent on attacking the United States. He also laid out a tougher approach to U.S. policy toward Pakistan.

The Republican president overcame his own doubts about the war that began in October 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. He said repeatedly on the campaign trail last year that the war was too costly in lives and money.

Maybe another 16 years. Or 60. Not feeling to good about this. He did make some good upfront points about national reconciliation. There’s a thought – fix this country first…

In totally unrelated news I shot a video during the Solar Eclipse. That may come forth soon – it’s not that spectacular. It was maybe like early dusk? Meh.

So, sometime today we will hear just where the nearly 16-year-old War in Afghanistan is going next.

President Donald Trump has made a decision on the United States’ strategy for Afghanistan after a “sufficiently rigorous” review process, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday.

However, Mattis did not provide details on when the White House would make an announcement or what the decision was on Afghanistan, where fighting still rages more than 15 years after U.S. forces invaded and overthrew a Taliban government.

Soon after taking office in January, the Trump administration began a review of U.S. policy on Afghanistan, which has expanded into a broader South Asia review.

“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a pre-set position,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him aboard a military aircraft to Jordan. “The president has made a decision. As he said, he wants to be the one to announce it to the American people.”

We’re waiting.

Sixteen years and Taliban insurgents still control half the country. Imagine Hitler still controlling half of Germany and occupied Europe – in 1957… Of course, then, we had a declaration and goals.

Mattis knows. We’ll know soon. Eric Vidal/Reuters.

The decision will be important and should shed some light on where all foreign policy is going in the years to come. I fear that minding our own business may not be an option. I hope I’m wrong.

Melbourne, Australia takes the honor for the highest quality of life – the seven year in a row. Good on ya!

Melbourne, Australia ranks as No. 1 for the seventh consecutive year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 10th annual “Global Livability Ranking” of 140 cities around the world. It was followed by Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, Helsinki and Hamburg. The first American city to make the ranking was Honolulu at No. 17, followed by Washington, D.C. (No. 20), Boston (No. 34), Chicago and Miami (joint No. 38) and Pittsburgh (No. 41).

Over the past decade, there’s been a European currency crisis, anti-austerity riots, civil wars in Europe and the Middle East, a refugee crisis, mounting terror attacks and, most recently, civil unrest in the U.S. marked by the white supremacist marches. The average global livability score fell to 74.8% in 2017 from 76.1% in 2007. But 12 cities registered improvements in livability compared with just six that registered declines, said John Copestake, editor of the survey.

Catalan police have just confirmed that – as well as the four suspects shot dead, and a fifth who was wounded and arrested – six bystanders and one police officer were injured during the operation in Cambrils.

Two are seriously injured. The officer was slightly hurt.

It’s not clear how they were injured.

All terrorists and suspects were previously known to authorities somewhere, because Perrin’s First Law.

Who knew the Spanish had a statue of Robert E. Lee? It has to come down. Now!

No… This is, in all likelihood, ISIS or Independence Separatists. 13 are reported dead, many injured, and some held hostage.

Update 3: According to El Mundo the number of dead increased to 13. Additionally, as the Telegraph adds, Police stationed at the cordon a block away from Plaza Catalunya, on Passeig de Gracia, say they have no information what is happening inside. Confused tourists, shoppers and business owners gathered at its edges, awaiting some word or direction as to what to do.

The Catalan police say they are treating the crash as a suspected terrorist attack but cannot yet confirm the motive. According to media reports, the attack vehicle was a rented van. That would suggest, if this is confirmed as a terrorist attack, that terrorists are imitating the perpetrators of the London Bridge attack, where a rented van was also used.

Sky News reports that police are now looking for a second van that may have been involved in the attack.

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Update 2: Daksha Dixit, a 28 year old tourist visiting from Mumbai with family, told the Telegraph they had been on a tourist bus which had just dropped them off one block from Plaza Cataluña when they heard the news. “We got off and people were panicking, no one knew what was going on. There was panic everywhere.” The family arrived just yesterday for a one week trip and their hotel is on the Ramblas inside the cordon. They were unclear as to what exactly was unfolding, with Miss Dixit adding: “I don’t know what to do”.

* * *

Update 1: According to Reuters, two armed men have holed up inside a Turkish restaurant after the crash and have taken hostages, while El Periodico tweets that there was an active shootout in the area, in what the Barclona police now say is considered a “terrorist attack.”

Them nuc-u-ler wep-ins. Kim Jong-Un seems to have backed off the nuking of Guam or whatever. The following might, just might help explain why. It explains much. A pretty good breakdown of who has what:

As VisualCapitalist’s map above demonstrates, the United States and Russia still maintain the world’s largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons, holding 92% of the world’s estimated 15,000 nuclear warheads.

While today’s arsenals seem quite excessive, they are actually quite modest compared to historical totals such as those during the Cold War. In 1986, for example, there were actually 70,300 nuclear weapons globally – but luckily for us, the number of warheads has eased down over time as countries disarm more weapons.

A few more countries will probably join the nuclear club within a decade or two. Yet, hopefully the overall weapon numbers will continue to fall. Hopefully none will ever see use. Two was too many.

It certainly makes sense to ask. The traditional schools slowly close due to this and that reason yet millions of families still favor the religious education over the government schoolhouse alternative.

North sees a possible inter-denominational bidding war for the attention/enrollment of young Christian scholars. It could all start Catholic:

What about the Southern Baptists? If they thought the Catholics were going to do this, there would be a bunch of Southern Baptists who would give it a shot. It would appall them that the Catholics would do it without a challenge from Southern Baptists.

October 31 is the 500th anniversary of Luther’s nailing of the 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. If Missouri Synod Lutherans thought the Catholics were about to offer a free online K-12 curriculum, they would organize to match them, course for course.

Presbyterians are the scholars of the Protestant world. If conservative Presbyterians thought that the Catholics were going to do this, they would form a study committee in each Presbyterian splinter denomination. Within five years, there would be a decision to start a curriculum by reach group. Within less than a decade from this decision — though not much less — there would be at least five Presbyterian curriculums online.

Then the Dutch would match them. The Dutch would not tolerate American Presbyterians horning in on Calvinist private schools run by school boards dominated by parents.

Then “word of faith” cable-TV Pentecostal pastors would see a profit opportunity: Holy Ghost-directed education. They would organize online programs. Their ministries would own the programs.

What we need is interdenominational competition. We need denominationally committed Christians who will not tolerate any of those other denominations getting away with this. Obviously, they’re not willing to fight the public schools. They are all perfectly willing to let the public schools steal their kids’ minds. This has been true in the United States ever since the 1840’s. But the thought that the Roman Catholics were going to do this would outrage Protestants.

Therefore, I call on some mother superior to leave a legacy behind. I call on some Catholic bishop to get his act together, educationally speaking. Get that free online curriculum up and running! Show those Protestants a thing or two!

If 20 million families then pulled their kids out of tax-funded schools, maybe a majority of voters would start voting “no” on school bond ballot propositions. Would that be so bad?

A very interesting idea and concept. More than rebuilding American education, this might just help the churches save themselves – from themselves.

BTW, if you and your kids are tired on the local K-12 experience, consider the RPC.

Venezuela and her people aren’t doing too well at the moment. President Trump suggested he might be able to “help.” Said “help” may be unwanted.

After months of attacking Venezuela’s unpopular President Nicolas Maduro, Latin America came out strongly against U.S. threats of military action against the crisis-hit nation.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s surprise comments on Friday may bring the beleaguered Maduro some respite in the region, just as Venezuela was on verge of becoming a pariah over its recent installation of a legislative superbody, widely condemned as a power grab by the ruling Socialists.

Following Trump’s assertion that military intervention in Venezuela was an option, Maduro’s critics are caught between backing the idea of a foreign invasion of Venezuela or supporting a president they call a dictator.